Review: End of Day by Jewel E. Ann

End of Day by Jewel E. Ann
Series: Jack & Jill #1
Published by Self-Published on August 17th 2015
Pages: 426
Genres: Mystery, Romantic Suspense


Amazon

It’s never too soon to take your next breath.

Behind tinted windows a few yards from mourning family and friends, Jessica and Jude Day witness their parents’ funeral—and their own. Stripped of the only life they’ve ever known, the Days say goodbye to San Francisco forever.

Six months and two new identities later, the thirty-year-old misfits with elite self-defense skills and penchants for alcohol, sex, and trouble arrive like an earthquake to Peaceful Woods, a retirement community in Omaha, Nebraska, that thrives on rules and gossip. Welcome home, Jackson and Jillian Knight.

Jackson celebrates his new beginning by embracing his job and wiping his cavalier past clean with a temporary oath of celibacy. But Jillian’s past is branded into her soul—the deaths, the insanity, Dr. Luke Jones, and the need to make her lovers bleed. Her chance for redemption comes in the form of a next-door neighbor, one Senior Master Sergeant Monaghan. He’s sexy, dangerously alluring, and riddled with emotional issues from years of service. He’s also … So. Damn. Grumpy.

Their mission is simple: Let go, start over, don't kill anyone, and pray that nobody resurrects their past.

**THIS BOOK CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL CONTENT 18+

Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, but when you’re an avid reader who reads well over 100 novels per year, many books tend to blend together. Authors that bring something fresh to the table stand a better chance of producing work that stands out. Jewel E. Ann brought her A-game with End of Day, and I can honestly say I’ve never read anything like it. She has woven together a gripping, intriguing, and clever novel that I could not put down. What a fantastic start to the Jack & Jill series.

End of Day is a romantic-suspense / dramedy / mystery. It is also one huge mindf*ck! It deals with violent subject matter but I wouldn’t classify it as dark fiction; I’d say it falls more on the grey spectrum.

Thirty year-old twins Jillian and Jackson Knight have just moved to a quiet Omaha retirement community under unknown circumstances. While Jackson embraces their fresh start, Jillian is resistant. The story is told in the third person and centers around Jillian. Always the rule breaker, Jillian relishes giving the male residents heart palpitations by getting her mail clad only in panties, a tank top, and red rain boots. She’s the type of complex protagonist I can really sink my teeth into: damaged, volatile, snarky, nurturing, alluring, and a total badass. Jillian strikes up a dangerous flirtation with AJ, her perpetually grouchy next-door neighbor, who also happens to be a veteran suffering from PTSD. Is he a threat or a second chance?

The story switches between the present and Jillian’s past, and it’s these flashbacks that I found to be absolutely captivating. We meet Luke, the great love of Jillian’s life, and we come to learn more about Jillian’s history, as well as the mysteries surrounding her disturbing psychological tendencies. It’s slowly but expertly paced and extremely gratifying.

My heart ached for Jillian and her desperate attempts to find redemption and happiness. Although there is no love triangle, I couldn’t help comparing AJ and Luke and wondering which man is better for her.

I’m going to crown Jewel E. Ann the “Mary Poppins of Contemporary Romance” because I’m pretty sure she subscribes to the philosophy that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. I’ve discovered that she has a knack for mixing humor and heartbreak and guess what? I like it! She sucker punched me with her style in one of my favorites, Undeniably You, but now I’ve come to expect it. The snarky banter takes the edge off the suffering in this tragically beautiful story.

Many questions remain, and we still have no idea what brought the Knights to Nebraska, but I’m excited to find out. End of Day is the first book in the Jack & Jill trilogy. An optional cliffhanger is included, so if you’re not a fan of cliffies don’t read it unless you’re ready to jump into the next book.

** ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. **

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